Seventeen grant agreements worth 1 billion kuna (€135.2 million) of EU money were signed at the Ministry of Education and Science on Monday.

The agreements are a part of a call for investment in state-of-the-art research equipment and infrastructure, and the funds were granted under the programme for investing in reforms and infrastructure in the research, development, and innovation sector.
This is the biggest investment in research infrastructure and equipment in the last ten years.

The grants will ensure significant progress in research, help attract young researchers, and enhance possibilities for cooperation with foreign researchers and the business sector, said the Science Minister, Blazenka Divjak.

The projects to be financed by EU funds concern, among other things, development of new food centres and robotics in Zagreb, development of the metal industry in the northern Medjimurje County, energy efficiency in the city of Split, and the diagnostics research of malignant diseases in Osijek, Divjak said.

Croatia will gradually increase investment in research, which now stands at 0.8 percent of GDP, with the target being 1.4 percent.

The financing of a total of 22 projects were approved under this tender, two of which were signed in Split in early May, and three more are expected to be signed soon.

(€1 = 7.38 kuna)

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